Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
Posts: 625
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Post by Silver on Jun 28, 2011 11:48:36 GMT -8
I'm a hills (or mountains) and trees sort of person, and Gods! does your country look beautiful, especially as filmed in those lovely movies. I was raised in the country; in fact, Austin, Texas, where I live now, is the largest city I've ever lived in. Probably the smallest 'big city' there is!
I lived a large part of my life in what was referred to as a 'Hurricane Alley', and I figure every place in the world has it's risks. You generally have to look at the rewards and accept that the risks are going to be there, I feel.
I love hiking and backpacking and horseback riding (which I also understand is a popular sport in a lot of places in NZ). Boating too, for that matter, except I'm very pale and get sun-sick easily, although proper covering largely resolves that problem. Especially sail boating or canoeing.
Maybe one of these days I'll find a way to get over there at least for a visit - and then maybe just never come home.
I'm not highly political, although I'm sure you can tell by my comments earlier that I'm not very sympathetic to right-wing attitudes (I have a bumper sticker in my office I inherited from a really good man who died suddenly about a year after I started working here (I work for the "right to work" *snort* state equivalent of a teachers union) that says, quite succinctly I think, "Doing my part to piss off the radical right." Of course, leftist extremists can be a problem too, but you gotta be reasonable about giving due respect to the opinions of others; except when those opinions include interfering with other people's rights and fair play.
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conansf
Wannabe
Steampunk never goes out of fashion
Posts: 40
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Post by conansf on Jun 29, 2011 13:04:06 GMT -8
We have a spare room for visitors - just saying It's on the bottom floor and one of our US friends dubbed it the Lower Chamber and The Lower Chamber it's been ever since.
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Post by lilyfortune on Jul 1, 2011 20:47:06 GMT -8
Not very sympathetic to right-wing attitudes Silver? A woman after my own heart! ;D
I've worked with some people who expound that far right viewpoint, disciples of Rush Limbaugh and Shawn Hannity (yuck)....beats me why people would follow characters like them and vote against their own interests.
I'm in another so called "right to work" state (Florida), or as some like to call it "Flori-DUH" because of some of the insanely stupid stuff that goes on down here. The latest scourge: our governor Rick Scott. He will be the ruin of this state.
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Post by California gal on Jul 4, 2011 6:42:11 GMT -8
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
Posts: 1,123
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jul 5, 2011 1:53:10 GMT -8
“The solution is simple. PLOT! Figure out where you want to go to and how to get there. Don't create hair brain schemes that in reality have little or no chance of succeeding, or that mathematicians would say are numerically improbable. Think.”Although I agree with Scott Eagan for the most part, I have to say, WWW was rampant with improbability. That was part of it's charm and part of what made it so much fun. I do agree though, that plot is very important. It always amazes me to watch some of the old ½ hour shows. Those writers and producers sure knew how to pack a lot of story into such a small time frame! Nice find Cal Gal. Well worth the read to get perspective from a literary agent. Thanks for the link.
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Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
Posts: 625
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Post by Silver on Jul 5, 2011 6:56:16 GMT -8
The latest scourge: our governor Rick Scott. He will be the ruin of this state. I'd offer to trade governors, but it looks all-too-likely that everybody will get the (non) pleasure of sharing our "leader". Much like, as I said, Dub the Shrub. For the non-Americans or any others who don't get the Texas slang, that's George W (prounounce Dub-yah) Bush.
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Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
Posts: 625
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Post by Silver on Jul 5, 2011 7:07:26 GMT -8
Like pretty much all 'hard and fast' rules, there is always a time and place to break this one, and WWW is definitely one such. Still, I seem to get more out of 'what not to do' books and articles on writing than I do from those about what you 'should' do. I really appreciate this link!
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conansf
Wannabe
Steampunk never goes out of fashion
Posts: 40
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Post by conansf on Jul 5, 2011 17:05:03 GMT -8
Big shout out to all our Florida folk. I am currently in the Days Inn KSC. Having come from mid-winter in NZ, I am loving this heat!!!
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Post by California gal on Jul 8, 2011 14:43:54 GMT -8
If you subscribe to Time magazine, or have access to it (like at your doctor's office ), this week's issue (with the fish on the cover) has a pretty good article about fan fiction writing. It's focused on Harry Potter but mentions other TV shows. Not Wild Wild West, alas. But there some stuff about the history of FF, mentions fanfiction.net, and also touches on the legalities. I'm not sure when Time makes their articles accessible to non-subscribing public but I'll try to remember to check for it. Or if anyone else finds it online, please post the link.
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 9, 2011 9:15:54 GMT -8
Oh cool! Of course we don't subscribe to TIME here at this library dangit.
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 9, 2011 9:21:50 GMT -8
Over the past few weeks I have been trying to come up with an answer to this question...I think I finally have it, even though it's not conventional.
I usually have writer's block so writing comes hard unless I have an inspiration. So that's what I need, something to write off of, like an episode where I insert a new character, or a story that would be great with Jim and Artemus in it, a piece of history that I come across that would be interesting with the boys in it. It feels like cheating to me though, but that might be the teacher in me rebelling against the thought of plagiarism. Pet told me once when I was writing Lightning Strike that I am still the one writing it, making new dialog, new scenes with the extra character, writing her POV of scenes that we already know. I guess that is true. It's just what I have done in the few stories I've written.
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Post by California gal on Jul 10, 2011 11:21:09 GMT -8
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Post by Artiespet on Jul 10, 2011 16:26:03 GMT -8
That's a great article. Thanks for sharing that.
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Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
Posts: 625
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Post by Silver on Jul 11, 2011 7:22:59 GMT -8
Thanks very much for posting that link. What an intesting overview of the concept of fanfiction. I not only enjoyed reading it, I've passed it on to a friend who recently discovered the existence of fanfic. She's very into 'Spuffy' (Spike and Buffy) at the moment.
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 12, 2011 11:47:28 GMT -8
Ooh! Can't wait to read it, thanks Cal Gal!
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Post by California gal on Jul 12, 2011 12:39:13 GMT -8
There are over half a million Harry Potter fics. The mind boggles!
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
Posts: 1,123
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jul 13, 2011 2:02:49 GMT -8
There are over half a million Harry Potter fics. The mind boggles! Wow. I've seen all the movies but I've never read even one of the books, much less any fanfiction dedicated to it. Can you imagine all the legal hassels of going after that many writers if Rowling, instead, wanted to protect her characters from being used by others? She might be too rich to care now. Besides, it probably helps keep the movies selling. Long live Harry Potter's fandom!
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 16, 2011 9:36:27 GMT -8
The article was really good, thanks for sharing the link, Cal gal. I thought that Rowling wasn't permitting fanfiction...but that might have been before she finished the last book. I think it's wonderful that she is allowing it to happen...because really, it's going to happen whether it's published online or not!
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Post by California gal on Jul 16, 2011 10:56:08 GMT -8
You know, I thought the same thing, Apple, that Rowling wasn't allowing it. I looked on FFN and could not see Harry Potter listed anywhere, so the stories must be posted elsewhere.
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Post by SpottedPony on Jul 17, 2011 5:42:45 GMT -8
On FanFic.net, there is indeed Harry Potter fanfic. Over 500,000 stories. I've got a couple of Harry Potter stories of my own over there.
Spotted Pony
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Post by California gal on Jul 17, 2011 6:14:22 GMT -8
I'll have to check again. I looked at the movies list and didn't see it. Maybe I scanned the list too quickly. Ah! I found them--under BOOKS not movies! (Didn't think of that, probably because while I've seen the movies, I've never read the books!)
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 23, 2011 9:37:17 GMT -8
The books are brilliant! The article in TIME stated that the stories were on ffn, I believe. I was so excited reading that article, knowing that I have contributed, though a small number of words in the big scheme of things, but still a contribution!
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Jul 26, 2011 15:36:44 GMT -8
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
Posts: 1,123
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jul 30, 2011 2:36:30 GMT -8
Thanks for the links Apple! I printed some of it. It never hurts to have some basic guidance nearby.
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Post by California gal on Aug 7, 2011 6:05:46 GMT -8
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
Posts: 1,123
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Aug 7, 2011 10:44:20 GMT -8
What a great link! Lot's of usable insights there. I just read Agent's Pet Peeves...yikes, now there's a grocery list to stay away from.
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Post by artiesniecewannabe on Aug 13, 2011 23:14:43 GMT -8
Does anyone besides me still do the first draft in longhand? I have all these composition books...
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Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
Posts: 625
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Post by Silver on Aug 14, 2011 8:25:19 GMT -8
Does anyone besides me still do the first draft in longhand? I have all these composition books... Hello, we have a ludite! Funny you should mention this, since I have in my lap at this moment a composition book recently purchased and dedicated to outlining and recording ideas for WWW. I have a very changeable style of doing things - sometimes going strictly electronic, which can mean computer or AlphaSmart (laptop word processor); I keep my writing journal on my Kindle (bought a notepad application for her); sometimes I feel the need to write longhand.
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Apple
Desk Jockey
"Speaking of love, Apple..."
Posts: 2,202
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Post by Apple on Aug 14, 2011 9:56:22 GMT -8
I love to do my writing in longhand, though it doesn't always happen that way. I did write TNOT Heart's Desire in longhand first, while sitting at the ice rink during my daughters skating lessons. It passed the time. There have been times that I was writing on the desktop and had to leave but I took paper with me and continued where I left off because if I didn't I would lose the momentum. So as I sat in the nursery at church in case people had to drop off their little ones, I wrote the end of Lightnin' Strike.
Now here's my question for those who have done beta reading. Do you beta read at the computer, or do you print out the story and make your marks on it in pen (or pencil)? I print it out...just finished marking up a novel-262 pages! Now I have to go back and put them into the document in OpenOffice. That helps me to make sure that the comments are legitimate, or if I my mind wasn't picking up the real meaning in the story the first time I read it.
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Post by artiesniecewannabe on Aug 14, 2011 10:14:07 GMT -8
Oh, not particularly ludditish. But having to share the computer with the 4 youngest kids - and it's a desktop - if I want to write anytime, anywhere, gotta do it longhand. Then I can spend the typing time typing, not staring at the screen working out what comes next with some kid hanging about asking if I'm done yet...
The fun part of longhand is that I decided yesterday that a paragraph was in the wrong place. It's so much more involved to 'cut and paste' in longhand!
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